


Snowflake

by myemergence



Series: Buddie First Kiss Week 2020 [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buddie First Kiss Week 2020, Christmas Fluff, Elf on the Shelf, First Kiss, M/M, holiday feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24588097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myemergence/pseuds/myemergence
Summary: “An Elf on the Shelf,” Eddie repeats before he takes a bite of scrambled eggs. “It’s this stupid elf doll that comes with a storybook. The elf is supposed to watch the kid and then go back to the North Pole and report to Santa if they’ve been naughty or nice.”“Okay and Chris isn’t getting this why?” Buck asks, squinting at Eddie, as though the squint is going to suddenly make things more clear.“Because it’s just one more thing, Buck. It’s the holiday party at school, going to see Santa, picking out a Christmas tree, decorating, baking cookies, breakfast with Santa, shopping, wrapping the presents, and…” Eddie glances around and realizes that everyone is staring at him and sighs. “I just… I don’t need one more thing to remember.”**First Kiss Week prompt: Writer's Choice
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Buddie First Kiss Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769923
Comments: 13
Kudos: 281





	Snowflake

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Nicole for the beta! I hope you enjoy the last installment for First Kiss Week.

If anyone were to ask Eddie Diaz what he hates the most this time of the year, he wouldn’t even need to pause and think it over.

It was hands down, no questions asked, the fucking elf.

An elf that is supposed to watch over kids and report their good and bad behavior back to Santa himself. When did Santa Clause stop being enough for kids that they needed an added incentive to behave? When he was a kid, all it took was one threat of being on the naughty list and Eddie would snap back into shape. He’d spend days trying to get back into Santa’s good graces and make it back onto the nice list. Luckily for Eddie, Chris is a great kid and he doesn’t need an Elf on the Shelf to encourage him to be on his best behavior. Most of the time, Eddie’s kid has better behavior than his dad. Still, he’d asked for an Elf on the Shelf this year.

Eddie already told him that he couldn’t have one, and to say that Christopher was disappointed was an understatement. Eddie tries to give Chris everything that he wants, especially this time of the year.

But even Eddie has limits.

___________________________________

It’s early December and the hustle and bustle of the season are already in full swing. There are red kettles in front of most of the stores with bell ringers, Christmas lights on display in every storefront, and even the firehouse is oozing holiday cheer from every crack and crevice.

Eddie takes a sip of his coffee at the start of the shift, the rest of the crew settling into their seats around the table. 

“So, what is it that all of your kids are asking for this year that they’re _not_ going to get?” Hen asks with a chuckle.

“A switch,” Bobby says with a small shrug, plating some eggs as he glances over at Hen.

“Denny wants a laptop,” Hen laughs before everyone’s eyes shift over to Eddie. “What about Chris?”

“An Elf on the Shelf,” Eddie answers before the other two parents on their team quiet, looking at him quizzically. 

“A what?” Buck asks as he grabs a strip of bacon from his plate and bites into it.

“An Elf on the Shelf,” Eddie repeats before he takes a bite of scrambled eggs. “It’s this stupid elf doll that comes with a storybook. The elf is supposed to watch the kid and then go back to the North Pole and report to Santa if they’ve been naughty or nice.”

“Okay and Chris isn’t getting this why?” Buck asks, squinting at Eddie, as though the squint is going to suddenly make things more clear.

“Because it’s just one more thing, Buck. It’s the holiday party at school, going to see Santa, picking out a Christmas tree, decorating, baking cookies, breakfast with Santa, shopping, wrapping the presents, _and…_ ” Eddie glances around and realizes that everyone is staring at him and sighs. “I just… I don’t need one more thing to remember.” 

“It’s fun.” Bobby finally says. “After Harry goes to bed at night we get to be creative and move the elf. He loves checking first thing in the morning to see what trouble he’s gotten into overnight.”

“It’s fun until someone forgets to move the elf,” Hen says dryly.

“So then you agree with me, Hen?”

Hen sighs. “I know it’s annoying, but it just makes the season more magical for them. And all of the other kids in their classes have one. Do you really want him to be left out?”

Eddie’s head drops into his hands and groans. “The difference is you have Karen to help you with it. And Bobby? You have Athena. I barely get through the holiday season without some catastrophe or forgetting something _important_. I understand that it’s not a major thing… but who do I have to help me?”

___________________________________

“Buck,” Eddie says in surprise when he shows up at the house unannounced. “Is everything alright?” he asks, opening the door wider to let him in.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by. Is Chris around?”

“In the living room.” There are very few people in their life that go out of their way to see Christopher. Aside from their family, there are only two: Buck and Carla. Eddie’s grateful that Buck wants to spend so much of his time with them, especially this time of the year. He knows that everyone is caught up in the season and all that they have to get done, but it’s nice that Buck never forgets Christopher.

As he trails Buck into the living room where Christopher is watching television, Eddie notices for the first time that Buck is carrying a shopping bag from Target. “What’ve you got there?”

“Oh, just a little something I picked up for Christopher when I stopped at the store.”

“Like an early Christmas present?” Chris asks, beaming.

“Yeah, kinda like that.” Buck sits next to Chris on the couch, and Eddie tries to peer into the bag as he passes by.

Christopher pulls a box out of the bag and nearly squeals. “AN ELF ON THE SHELF!”

“ _Buck_ ,” Eddie manages, his voice tight. “Christopher, you can’t-” Buck has done some questionable things in the past. He’s done some things that have pissed Eddie off, but this? _This_ takes the cake. He sat across the table and listened to Eddie go on and on about how he barely holds it together during the holidays and _this_ is what Buck does?

Eddie’s eye is twitching. He can actually feel the muscles spasming. 

Buck shrinks under Eddie’s gaze, then says, “Eddie, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about for a second, in the other room.”

 _Now_ he wants to talk. 

“We’ll be right back, buddy.” Eddie sighs and follows Buck to the kitchen. If looks could kill, Buck would be laid out on the floor right now because Eddie is seething. Since looks can’t actually kill, Eddie might have to take things into his own hands. He spins around on Buck once they’re out of earshot. “What the fuck, man?”

“Look, Eddie, don’t be mad-”

“Don’t be mad? Did you even hear anything that came out of my mouth when we were at the station yesterday?” Eddie asks, scrubbing a hand down over his face in frustration.

“Of course I did. I heard everything that you said.”

“Did you?” 

Buck sighs. “You said that you couldn’t handle one more thing this holiday season.”

“Right,” Eddie says hotly, gesturing towards the living room. “Yet here you are bringing in one more thing, and if I take it away, _I’m_ the bad guy.”

“It’s okay, Eddie.” Buck sets a hand on his shoulder and Eddie tenses instantly. “You asked who you had to help you out. With the Elf on the Shelf, with everything. I— you have me, Eddie. You always have me.” The anger drains out of Eddie at his words. Buck’s right, he’s always there with them as the third unofficial part of their little family.

“I appreciate the thought, really I do. I know that you want Christopher to be able to do all of these things that everyone else is doing. You don’t want him to feel left out, and I want that for him, too. But this isn’t a one-time thing. It’s every single night until Christmas. That’s seventeen nights that I have to do this now.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Eddie. Just leave it to me.” With that Buck bounces out of the kitchen and back towards the living room to learn all about the Elf on the Shelf tradition.

___________________________________

When Buck told Eddie that he’d take care of everything, he really did mean everything. It’s been over a week now and Buck has stopped by their house every night. Even on the days that they have a long shift, he makes sure that he’s able to stop by and help. Some nights, he comes early enough to have dinner with them and once Christopher is tucked into bed, Buck springs into action with Christopher’s elf who he’s affectionately named Snowflake. Eddie still hates the thing as much as he did when Buck first gave it to Chris.

But somehow, Buck makes it tolerable and Eddie looks forward to his visit each day.

At first, Buck starts off small. Snowflake leaves a little note for Christopher while sitting on the counter. Snowflake reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and delivering a holiday treat. Then, Buck discovers Pinterest and he becomes unleashed. Snowflake is on the counter surrounded with marshmallows and a sign that reads ‘do you want to build a snowman?’, down to the minute detail of the tiny face being drawn on it’s little marshmallow face. The elf sitting in the cupboard, feeding Christopher’s dinosaurs that surrounded the counter below. And last night? He’d ended up inside of a sealed jar so that Christopher was able to tote him around the house. To say that he’s overjoyed is an understatement.

Even though he hates the elf, Eddie does love the smile that it brings to Christopher’s face each morning.

___________________________________

It’s only one week until Christmas, and Christopher’s been begging to make cut-out cookies for days. It’s something that Shannon did with him when he was younger. And though Eddie somehow manages to pull it off and fit it into the schedule every year, the cookies have yet to come out of the oven edible. 

When Buck arrives at the house, he’s carrying an armload of groceries. “What’ve you got there?” Eddie asks as he follows him into the kitchen.

“Stuff for cookies,” Buck says as he begins to unload the bags.

“And when did you plan on making these cookies?” Eddie asks dumbly.

“Now?” Eddie opens his mouth to argue before he clamps it shut. Maybe with Buck here to help they won’t come out of the oven smoking and charred. Chris will be able to experience a new tradition of actually _eating_ the Christmas cookies that they bake together.

“Yeah, that’s perfect, Carla will be dropping him off in about twenty minutes from school.”

“Is there a recipe that you usually use?”

“Uh…” Eddie walks into the kitchen and begins rummaging around in a drawer before he pulls out the recipe, which is a cut out from the back of a prepackaged box mix. He holds it out to Buck.

“Where did you get this?” Buck laughs, his brow raised in disbelief. “Eddie, seriously, what the hell is this?”

Eddie groans and crosses his arms over his chest defensively. “It’s the recipe.”

“It calls for prepackaged mix, Eddie. Do you mean to tell me you’ve never made Christmas cookies from scratch?”

“In case you haven’t realized this yet, cooking isn’t my strength.”

“This isn’t cooking, it’s baking.” Eddie rolls his eyes as Buck lays out all of the ingredients on the table, and then pulls out a recipe card. “I brought the cut-out cookie recipe that Maddie and I used to make with my grandma when we were kids.” He sets out a couple of rolling pins and Christmas cookie cutters on the table.

“If you want my help, you’re gonna have to tell me what I need to do,” Eddie says, glancing at the clock to see exactly how long he’s obligated to be Buck’s helper before Christopher arrives home from school.

Buck starts making the dough and then splits it up into three sections. He asks Eddie to help him flour the table, which is perplexing to Eddie because he’s never quite known how to keep the dough from sticking. They get to work and knead the dough before rolling it out, just in time for Christopher to come crutching into the house. 

“Bucky!” Christopher exclaims as soon as Carla drops him off. “I have to show you what Snowflake did.” Before Buck has the chance to say anything, Christopher’s crutches continue to click against the floor. He comes back out carrying the jar that holds the elf.

“Man, it’s pretty clever of your elf to climb into a jar so you can carry him around and not ruin his magic. Do you think he’d want to sit with us at the table while we make cookies?” Buck asks with a chuckle.

“Snowflake _loves_ cookies!” 

So Buck helps Christopher and Eddie make edible Christmas cookies for the first time ever. And when Christopher discovers Snowflake the next morning amidst a plate of half-eaten cookies, he howls with laughter. 

___________________________________

Each day closer to Christmas they get, Eddie realizes that’s one less day of Snowflake being the talk of the house. And another day closer to things going back to normal, limiting Buck’s visits to a few times per week, an acceptable number of times for a friend.

Eddie’s not prepared for the wave of sadness that overwhelms him, thinking about Buck’s nightly visits to their home ending. That may be part of why he doesn’t mention to Buck that on Christmas Eve there’s no job to be done; Snowflake will be heading back to the North Pole until next year. 

Eddie spends the majority of the day with Pepa, Abuela, and Chris. Christopher is anxiously waiting for the rest of the evening to wind down, waiting for Santa, and he’s already in his pajamas when Buck arrives. 

“Hey buddy, are you ready for the big guy to come tonight?” He asks with a grin.

“Yeah! I can’t wait, Buck.” Christopher settles further into Eddie’s side, patting the couch next to him, a silent request for Buck to sit beside him. “I hope he brings me everything I wanted this year. Do you think he’ll bring you everything you want?”

Buck’s gaze lingers on Eddie before his eyes shift back to Christopher. He nods and sits next to the boy on the couch. “Yeah, yeah I think I’ll get everything I asked for this year. What are you guys watching?”

“Elf,” Eddie answers with a laugh, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and holding it out to Buck. “Our little Christmas Eve tradition.”

“I _love_ Elf,” Buck says before he begins rambling endlessly about his favorite parts of the movie, how he loves when Buddy decorates the entire store and makes the New York City skyline out of Legos. It isn’t much later that the credits are rolling and Christopher muffles a yawn behind. 

“I think it’s about time for _‘Twas The Night Before Christmas_ , and then we’d better get you tucked in, huh?” Eddie glances at the clock and realizes it’s past his usual bedtime, aware that it’s going to be a long night for Eddie. He reads the story and once Christopher’s teeth are brushed, they set out milk and cookies for Santa. They tuck Christopher into bed and Eddie hopes that it won’t be long until he’s fast asleep. 

“Can I get you anything?” Eddie asks Buck once they’re downstairs. “A beer? Or if you’re hungry Abuela sent us home with enough food to feed an army today.”

“Normally I’d be all over that, but I just got finished with dinner at Maddie’s. I’ll take a beer, though.”

They settle on the couch next to each other with beers in hand. Eddie’s never really understood how silence can be anything but awkward, however at this moment with Buck, it’s anything but. It’s quiet, calm, and comforting. He wishes that he could freeze this moment in time, relish in the peacefulness that surrounds them. 

“So, I guess it’s time to get Snowflake situated, huh?”

Eddie cringes slightly. “It completely slipped my mind when we talked earlier, but Snowflake is off to the North Pole tonight. He doesn’t need to be moved.”

“Oh, I’m sorry man. I disturbed your Christmas Eve for nothing.”

“You didn’t disturb anything, Buck. You’re always welcome here.” Eddie pauses, looking at Buck closely. He still appears to be hesitating, like he’s thinking about leaving because he intruded on family time. Truthfully, when Eddie thinks of family time more often than not, he thinks of Buck. So Eddie says, “We want you here. _I_ want you here.”

“You do?” Buck sets down his empty beer bottle, resting his hand on the couch in the space between them. Eddie doesn’t miss the way that Buck turns towards him just a bit, eyes lingering on the space between them, finally looking up.

Eddie’s hand covers Buck’s, gently rubbing his thumb against the skin there. “I do.” He swallows hard, “I was wondering if you might want to stay over? Have some milk and cookies, put some presents out… be here when Chris wakes up tomorrow.”

“You’re sure I’m not going to be-”

Eddie shakes his head. “You won’t. I-” he stops for a moment, searching for the words. Expressing how he feels to people has never been his strength, and with Buck they’ve been friends for so long, he doesn’t really know how to tell him that what he wants now is more than friendship. 

“When we were at the station before you got Chris the Elf on the Shelf… I said that I wasn’t going to do it because I didn’t have anyone. That I’m in all of this alone. Hen has Karen, and Bobby has Athena. And— I was wrong, Ev. Because… _I have you_. And I’m not sure how I was blind to that before. This Christmas has been special and memorable because you’ve shared it with us. You went to breakfast with Santa, you baked cookies — _edible_ cookies. You planned out this entire Elf on the Shelf thing…I’m just sorry that I never told you that you’re what’s made this Christmas perfect until now.”

“Eddie, I… thank you,” Buck says before a nervous laugh rattles out of his chest.

Eddie takes a steadying breath, turning Buck’s hand between his and slotting their fingers together. “If this isn’t okay-” Eddie rushes to say, unsure eyes settling on Buck’s.

Buck’s lips turn upward slightly and the smile reaches his eyes. Eddie feels hopefulness settle in him. “It’s more than okay.”

“Okay,” Eddie rasps out a breath, his other hand moving to cradle the curve of Buck’s jaw. Buck meets him halfway, tilting his head slightly. Eddie’s lips gently brush against Buck’s, as if checking that he’s really okay with this. He feels Buck’s fingers on the back of his neck, drawing him closer. He releases Buck’s fingers, both hands cradling Buck’s face now as Eddie deepens the kiss. The kiss is slow and tender… and, life-changing. 

Eddie pulls back slightly, pressing his forehead to Buck’s. When he does, Buck’s eyes are bright as they glisten in the soft white glow from the Christmas tree lights.

Buck leans forward and places a quick peck against Eddie’s lips. “Merry Christmas, Eddie.”

“Merry Christmas, Buck.” Eddie says as he stands, holding a hand out to Buck. “The night is young, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.” Eddie walks to Christopher’s room, checking that he’s asleep and closes the door behind him before he turns back to Buck.

“Good thing we have cookies,” Buck grins, taking a bite out of one of the cookies on the plate they’d left out earlier.

“Yeah, edible cookies,” Eddie laughs and places a final tender kiss against Buck’s lips. “And new traditions.” 

Who would have thought that he’d have Snowflake the elf to thank for bringing his and Buck’s feelings to the light? For the first time in more years than he’d like to admit, he has someone to share Christmas Eve with long after Christopher’s been tucked into bed. 


End file.
